Because even though summer only officially started last Friday, we’ve been talking about it since early May—and the last thing on our minds in the sweltering heat we’re all now starting to feel is fall tweeds.

It’s this “trickiness,” among other things, that led the gents at two of our big three men’s rags to the same decision years ago: July wasn’t worth the hassle of its own issue, so they tacked it onto the end of June’s. Which has given us the rare opportunity to look past those dusty old stalwarts to a few of the other menswear mags out there.

Memorial Day might have marked the unofficial start of summer, but since the real deal doesn’t start till later this month, there’s still plenty of time to get prepared.

And these newly minted June issues won’t let you forget it for a second.

Likewise, in our grand tradition of surveying the broader field of menswear journalism, we’ve thumbed through this month’s crop of printed swimwear, whites, lightweight fabrics and otherwise uncategorized eye candy, just for you. You know, in anticipation.

It puts us in the late-spring-but-it-might-already-feel-like-summer zone of weather, so it’s hard to know whether we’re going to want to see umbrellas or linen—so all three mags hedged by putting leading men on their cover. (There was also some baseball-inspired fashion.)

Thus, in the name of menswear journalism, we trod through the mid-weight blazers, the white, er, off-white shoes (well in advance of Memorial Day) and a cacophony of fragrances to bring you:

Now that it’s spring, everything is abloom—even your local newsstands, thanks to the newest crop of magazines swathed in brightly colored menswear.

In other words: the April issues have arrived.

And in our grand tradition of taking the pulse of printed menswear journalism, we’ve thumbed through all of the highly glossy/flammable pages of the usual suspects to give you the rundown on the upcoming trends, recent cultural phenomena and the requisite amount of eye candy.

As your calendar should've notified you, we’re a week into December—which means the new crop of magazines hit the newsstands a little bit ago. But in case they got lost in the holiday jumble, we’ve flipped through them all to give you the lowdown on everything you need to know about this month in menswear journalism.

The December issues were full of reflection on a year that seemed more dismal to some (Esquire) than others (GQ) and mostly about watching TV to Details. And, for the first two, possibly about ushering in a new era of the casually printed nipple. (Here’s to looking forward to 2013 on that one.)

It’s October (yes, already) and that means one thing: a new crop of magazines has hit the shelves. September was the big rallying point for the fall menswear transition, so now it’s less about how fall looks and more about how fall feels: there’s tweed, the upcoming elections and awards season jockeying (coincidentally, each cover featured an A-list actor). So, let’s get into it.

September is a big month in the print world of menswear. It sets the tone for the following season (and, effectively, the remainder of the year).

It also means the page counts are at their bulkiest—so many woolen things, so little time. And in our continued dedication to sussing it all out, we’ve thumbed through the 1,000-plus pages (we’ve thrown in the bonus round of Vanity Fair since they’ve weighed in on the year’s best-dressed men) just for you.

This near-perfect spring kit is brought to you by Close Up and Private, who just unveiled their spring/summer issue with a perfect tutorial on wearing prep school gear without looking like you’re still in prep school. Take notes, men.

It’s been a long time since men wore hats as a matter of course—and even longer since full-color ads for those hats filled the pages of magazines like Life and The Saturday Evening Post.

But having recently stumbled across a cache of classic Stetson ads, we can attest, they still look pretty good—and not just the hats. The imagined consumer of the Truman years was a pretty sharp fellow, all tailored overcoats and low-slung jackets. Check out our favorite examples below, if you’re not convinced. The chaps of today could learn quite a bit.